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Cakebread
Suscol Springs Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
94 Points
Jeb Dunnuck
March 15, 2024

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Suscol Springs is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon with 2% Merlot, all of which spent 22 months in 54% new French oak. It’s probably the biggest, softest wine of the trio and has a ripe, opulent style in its plum, blueberry, chocolate, iron, and spicy wood-driven aromas and flavors. It has beautiful purity, full-bodied richness, sweet tannins, and a great finish. Drink this beauty any time over the coming 15 years or so.

– Jeb Dunnuck
Cakebread
Dancing Bear Ranch 2021
98 Points
Jeb Dunnuck
March 15, 2024

Lastly, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Dancing Bear Ranch comes from a stunning estate vineyard on Howell Mountain with the plantings dating back to 1999. A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and a splash of Cabernet Franc, aged in 59% new oak, this beauty reminds me of a great Saint-Julien (Leoville Barton?) with its incredible purity and regal, structured style. Crème de cassis, lead pencil, violets, chalky minerality, and chocolaty oak all emerge on the nose, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, ripe yet perfectly integrated tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It needs air if drinking any time soon and will ideally be given 4-6 years in the cellar. This beauty will have three decades of overall longevity.

– Jeb Dunnuck
Cakebread
Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
95 Points
Jeb Dunnuck
March 15, 2024

All Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Benchland Select comes from both Rutherford and Oakville fruit and spent 22 months in 56% new French oak. This brings another level of precision and focus compared to the Suscol Springs, and the wine has a stunning array of black raspberries, spicy oak, lead pencil shavings, and exotic baking spice and floral nuances. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and elegant, it has ultra-fine tannins, perfectly integrated background oak, and a great finish. It has plenty of structure and will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and should still be going strong at age 20.

– Jeb Dunnuck
Cakebread
Dancing Bear Ranch 2019
94 Points
Wine Enthusiast
September 19, 2023

Toasted oak and graphite aromas meet dark chocolate, black pepper and tar flavors in this robust, full-bodied and lavishly oaked wine. Firm tannins support ripe black fruits and an array of char, pencil shavings and clove accents.

– Jim Gordon
Cakebread
Suscol Springs Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
93 Points
Wine Enthusiast
May 1, 2023

A luscious mouthfeel and saturated black-fruit flavors give this wine a smooth, deep expression. Aged in 70% new barrels, it’s loaded with blueberries, black cherries and dark chocolate that weave through soft, silky tannins.

– Jim Gordon
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